New owner plans office building upgrade

Primacy II, an East Memphis office building at 6055 Primacy Parkway, has been purchased by Southland Primacy LLC from Jefferson Pilot Investments for $4.6 million.

The new owner, an affiliate of The Southland Companies, will spend more than $3 million on new operating systems, lobby and common area improvements and enhanced connections to adjoining Lichterman Nature Center, president and managing partner Terry Lynch said.

US Bank’s Nashville office provided $6.57 million in financing.

The four-story, 123,000-square-foot building was built in 1981 as part of Trammel Crow Farnsworth’s Lakecrest Office Park near St. Francis Hospital.

Lynch, partner with Memphis food manufacturer Karl and Gail Schledwitz in Southland, said the building is about 50 percent occupied.

Tenants include headquarters of Adams Keegan, a national human resources and employer services company; AT&T; and Automatic Data Processing Inc.

CBRE’s John Lamberson Jr. and Terry Radford represented the seller, and Ron Kastner of CBRE will be leasing agent. The property will continue to be managed by Capital Realty Services.

Lynch said Southland Primacy aims to upgrade the property to better compete for overflow from East Memphis’ top-tier office locations.

“It’s lately been a B-minus building and we’re going to make it a B-plus building,” Lynch said. “Because Class A office space is basically full in East Memphis, we see it as an opportunity to attract some cost-efficient tenants.”

He said the neighboring Primacy I building is near full occupancy because owners have invested adequately in maintenance and upgrades.